MothLight
A free, local-first story planning app for writers who think in visual boards, character cards, reference images, documents, music, and glowing little connections.
A practical feature map for visual planning, connected writing, story worlds, references, and the little glowing threads between them.
Build flexible boards out of notes, images, references, audio, videos, and linked entries. Drag pieces around freely, connect them with labeled arrows, collapse clutter, resize important moments, and move whole clusters when your story starts rearranging itself.
Keep your world organized with reusable entries for people, locations, events, and custom lore. Add images, relationships, modular notes, theme audio, and searchable details so your cast and worldbuilding stay close to the boards where you use them.
Write notes, outlines, scenes, or planning documents with rich-text formatting. Link directly to boards, other documents, and Story Dex entries so your writing and planning stay connected instead of living in separate little caves.
Import or link images, videos, and audio for your project. Keep reference material organized in one place, attach it to nodes, drop it onto boards, or use it while building character cards and scene maps.
Add YouTube links as board embeds or reference tracks in the audio library. Playback is handled through YouTube’s official embedded player, making it useful for trailers, music references, ambience, tutorials, and visual inspiration.
Sketch directly on boards with pen, eraser, fill, and text tools. Circle idea clusters, draw arrows, mark emotional beats, scribble reminders, or turn a messy board into a living story map.
Tag nodes, find references across boards, and reuse tags from elsewhere in your project. MothLight helps scattered details stay discoverable, even when your planning board becomes a beautiful little silk storm.
MothLight stores your work in a local project folder on your computer. No account, no required cloud sync, no subscription. Your boards, docs, media, and story data stay where you put them.
Download the portable Windows version, extract it, and run MothLight. It is built for local projects and easy testing without an installer ceremony.
MothLight gives story planning a gentle structure: ideas can stay loose, but the relationships between them become visible, searchable, and easy to revisit.
MothLight is free for life. Download the portable Windows build, or try the experimental Android APK if you want to test on mobile. No account, no subscription, no installer ceremony.
Download for Windows Download for Android Experimental APK Windows is the main portable build. The Android APK is experimental and may vary by phone/tablet. Import/export between desktop and Android is supported.